11' Serjíio Brilü were lo disappcar this verv
urienioon. it woiild Ix- (jiiilc unfoi'pixahle
siíii-f it wouid letive us iii inid-seiitence,
iiiIeiTu]iIiiig a conversation which began
bark ¡ii llio earlv 90 .s wlien he took parí
in aii cxliihilioii al llic (laja (Canarias
Gallerv in La Laguna (Tencrii'e). A( this
groiip show. 1 was í'asciiiated hv one of
his scidpttn'Ps: it consisted of Iwo largo,
differently sized stars, oiic whito and the
oThor rod. totirhing al the tip of one of
their poiiUs in an act of iiiipossible
eqiiihbritim. To comiler thp sobrietv of
these two elonieiits. the artisi had added
a small lurrv objecl lo liu- finisiied piece,
atlaching it to one of llie stars. Tfiis
round, niclal-gri'v fin-rv objeet, whose
hairv body slood out againsl llie puré
forms of the stars, gave us a chíe that
ihere was soinething funnv going on.
Soiiietliing which tirged us to plav the
gaine, lo li'ead his ground and crack the
cede of an atypical artist who is definitely
not resigned to .Vhniniaiisni's usual piirc
sobriety or (he facile decorative kitsch
which has degenerated from Pop art.
Getting to kiiow Sergio Brito s work.
stepping intü sucli a personal and, lo a
certain extenl. hcrniciic worid of
crealivitv, is ralher like l)u\ing a one-way
ticket lo Nci'ligo. lie lakes al! previous
approaches to siich extremes that tliey
can come across as straiige or e\en
sliocking. Brito's veheinence carries us to
the liinits of exaggeratioii: he reveáis the
niosl excessive, volupluous side of aiiv
chosen thenie. I can liai'dK ri'inemher ihe
rest of the exhihits al the (willerx. Iiiu I
certainlv recall ni\- desire lo furlhei-explore
ihe personal discoui'se of lliis
ai'lisi who was clearlv' an exjjert in ihe
laws of sediiction and, with no intention
of the kind. liad maiiaged lo draw m\
allenlion lo his ci'ealioiis. We niel several
Vears later, and were ablc lo continué
that dialectic in which the artist always
has the first word.
For some time riow, art has been
watching the worId, scrutinizing the field
of both piiblic and prívate life, reílecting
on the experiences of contemporary
existence. We live in a society whicli is
lacking in anv great coiivictioiis, but
which is aware that progress is no longer
an tíiitirelv positive forcé; we pav a liigh
lárice for it, and it would be all too easy
to destrov oiir en\ iiduinent coinpletelv.
Therefore, as a group, we are verv
\ ulnerable to and continuallv affected by
the mass inedia's hicessant attempts to
aiin its strategies dii-eclK al oiir
subconscions. Through adverlising, the
inedia tries to make us want a hüsl of
consumer goods. therebv turning us inlo
i'egular biivers of all kinds of producís
which periodically flood tíie markel. With
cüiisideralile visual impact, fluorescent
signs, biliboards. televisión coimnercials
and wiiidow displa\s al large deparlnieiU
stores all displav the goods we want to
buv.- ihe embodinieiU of progress and the
lifestvie lo which niosI peo|)le aspire. The
art worId does not escape llie infliience ol
lilis realitv, or the codes, concepts and
categories established in our
coniinunication svstems. The wavs we
inleract with the world arouiid us are
perfectiv controlled by the mass media;
with tlieir vasl infrastructure. thev
conlinuallv carrv oin markel researcli in
order lo ascertain the aspirations, desires
and even the niosI liidden dreains of each
and everv one of us.
Within this complex context, and fiillv
aware of the trivialization of art inherent
in all niass-inedia societies, Sergio Brito
inverts the language of advertising and
combines it with his own discourse. He
competes with the media b\ exaggerating
their messages and pusfiing ihein lo
extremes; in so doing, he reveáis the
permanent sediiction to which Guy
Debord refers in his book "The Societv of
Spectacle". Sergio lirilo says: "Mv work
is influenced bv this 'show-biz' language
and, although I ani againsl the rhetoric of
the established order, 1 do use its syntax".
He often emplovs allegorical references to
reflect the saturation of imagerv both in
the art world and in everydav life, and
the wa\' consumers are constanllv force-fed
bv llie increasinglv hi-lech mass
inedia, which llave indeed beconie llie
'spectacle' envisaged by the Silualionists.
bi the earlv 90's, Brito made a collection
of pieces grouped under the heading
Adorno y lacio. This series is based on
the einptiness of our societv, as defined
bv thinkers such as LJpovetskv and
Baiidrillard. and eniploys decoration and
fantasv as the niain workiiig malerials.
Artificial light is also incorporated inlo
nianv of the pieces. thus altering our
perception of the installation space. A
large red Hiihv lil u|) by a circle of lighls,
and a piece of fui'iiilure with a white
Ileorl sui'i'oimded bv llashiiig bulbs, are
bolli references lo a societv in which ihe
^A7^-
(iiiiiiiprcseiicp of ostenlatioiis. wrap-arouiid
images is considered the iiorm. A
H\stcrn wliirli ¡s ¡iirapablo of changiiig
llic roiirsc (iC ('coiioiiiic pioduclion in an
increasiiígh aggre.ssixe inarkel. and solls
¡is pr'ddiicts iiol (III llir liasis (if i|iialitv or
ii.sefulne.ss liiil bccaii.se (iT llicir visual
iinpacl. Tile laws iil'scdiiclion liave lorig
since plavcd a iiiajor role, and countless
professiíjiials ai'c eiiiplovfíd lo inake us
wanl all llic lliings whicli fashion dictatcs
as 'nuisl-lunes'. Sergio Brilo Icads us into
lilis ainhigiioiis worid of snperí'luily,
cnclianling liaiialilv. sickciiing
exuberance, chea|j glitter and tlic most
niisleading oslcnlalioireniploved b\' the
mass media to templ us. iVhich of liis
work inhabits the behind-the-sccnes ol
appearances, in the theatre of
represcntation and dcsire: in all tliat
wliicli is ap]iai'cnll\ ob\ ¡oiis, it seeks llic
com|ilex reaclions of exasperation witli
this obviotisness. and in ap|)arení
complexitv, the siniphcity of delighf in all
things coinplex.
Brito deligiils in revealing a socictv which
is increasingly accustomed to feehng
eheated: a societv tíial has no greatcf
objective iban mere appearances. where
llic piicc of goods rcficcis the liigh cost of
inaikcting and |)roinot¡oii. .And ncither
has the ail worId escaped this trend; it
has its verv own specialists to convince
potential biivers tliat their interest in
certain pieces of woik shows great tastc
and sensitivilv lo ciiltnre. Phese
sculptnres are imlikclv to match the three
piece suite or the wallpaper, with that
"discrect chami of the boiirgeoisie'; in
Brito s work, sublimity can be showy,
aiuJ the acquisition of one of his pieces
does not save the biiver.
Above all, Sergio Brilo loves lo provoke,
and with grcal boidncss he continuallv
challcnges devotees, inxslics and
moralisls. ihc anllicnlic and convinced.
Seriíio Brilo. Lu hia de Xitiica Jumas. 1*)^)7. Plástic, nietjil ÍIIMI lii^his.
defcndants and altackers. His work has
no better victim ihan ihose who belicve in
a redeeming art and no more appropriate
l'alc lliaii ihc hvpocrisv and arrogance of
a society ridcJIed wiUi vaniu. whi('h
shows not the slightest interest in
reflecting upon this 'spectacle', these
excesses to which it has accustomed us.
Brito's work retains an experimental
touch which enabics him to redefine the
spaces cUid domains of art. His
installation consistiiig of scxeral wreaths
placed on their side with space between
them, each attached to strings of flashing
colored hghts, reflects a "non-artistic '
reahty by recrcating an atmos|ihere
reminiscent of brighilv lit streets during
the holiday season, particiilarlv at
Christmas, wiien town (•oimciis and
businesses go wijd with fantasv atid
money so as to turn the streets into
spectaclcs of hght and color. Streets are
closelv linked to our concept of reality
and llave great presence in otir evervdav
livcs. riiis installation enabics sjx'ctators
lo |iarlic¡pate activelv bv ineans of a
inechanisni which records the iioisc they
iTiake wliilc inoving aroinid (he gallcrv
and their comments while viewing the
piece; these SOUIKIS ihcn ¡nlerfere with
the rhythm of the flashing lights. The
installation was designed to encourage
viewers to walk around it, to appreciate
lili' dilTercnl spalial rclations resiilling
Iroiii the e\'er-largcr ilhiminaled spirals,
w liicli cover more and inore l'loor sjiace
and reacli np towards the ceiling,
eiiveloping us hi their himinous presence.
The shape linking all llie wreaths is a
spiral; Brito recréales tlie transcenrlence
of this svnibol. which has formed part of
(lili mal cxpression since the beginning of
lime. In ihis piece, he reflects on the
siiperlicialils and hi.\iir\ which is
onmiprcsenl in oiir societv as a wliole,
and in the worId of cultiire and
contemporary art. This is iiol willioiil an
element of here-sv in a plací' siich as IIKÍ
(¡aiiarv Islands, wherc the spiral is
regardcd as a svnibol ol nalional identils.
161
í
n
t
Oii llie illimiiiiated coliimn, the iiuniber
of glasses coincides willi llic seven
(laiiaix Islaiíds. This cold. henivetic
sculplure is based on the idea oC tlie
Ganarles as a single, conipact block;
Sergio Brito casis an ironic glance at the
pride íell bv iiiain' (Janarv Islandcrs in
belonging to what thev perceive as one
great island made iip of the unión oí
seven. Rather than investigating tlie
mythology or native legends of die
Canarv Islands, Brito has chosen to look
at contemporarv socielv and tlie banaUty
of all displays of provincial pride among
the inhaiiilants of anv Unid, hi so doing,
he presents the paradoxical power of
images, which are entirely lacking ni
content but come across vvith great visual
forcé. Since 1995, much of Brito s work
has revolved around the place where he
lives and works; it iooks at bis cultural
identity, seeking a meaningful space
thioiigh which to talk about his place of
origin, and ironizing about the recent
regionalist phenomenon of returning to
o I ir roots.
In his series Síndrome de Feler Pan.
Brito continúes to studv the concepl of
"collective identity which is upheid bv
most nationalist and populist parties: one
of the most serious threats to democracv s
protection of tolerance and coexistence.
As parí of an ofteii iiivented folklore,
manv mvths and .svnibols of Iraditional
Canarv Island idenlitv are being
recuperated b\' |jeo]ile who believe thev
possess the absolute truth about a range
of subjects which affect us all. In his
|)iece Canarias naturaleza rálida. a
Mario Merz-stvle isloo consistiiiK of
numerons iiiílalablc smil('\ sunsliiucs.
Brito recréales the inightv sim which
attracts countless tourists to tiic (Janarv
Islands. The fine weather blessing the
islands all vear loiiiid inspires foreigners
lo flock to our beaches and lie aroiind in
the sun: it is also the greatest sotirce of
iiiconie foi' I hese hickv islands. Sergio
Brito is well aware that the brighlesl star
iii the solar s\stem is like a god which
evervone worships in order lo picxcnt the
economv collapsiiig, and lo niaiiilain llie
status (|U(). As a resiill. he has recrealed
this |)ro\()cali\(' artificial sun consisting
ol manv smaller suns which goes bevond
the limits of 'iJindence" and enlei's the
diHiciill lerrain of excess and ostentation
in order to show what is offered in a lew
small Atlantic islands off the north-west
coast of África.
Sci-fíio BrlU). Unlllhd. 1'W.5. Iiistallalidii. 4Ü0 .x -lOO .x 1.100 cni.
Bananas are another of the most
popular symbols of Canary Island
identity. Remember "Guanchito" the
giant banana, who toured Spain (in a
promotional canipaign run by the Canary
Islands Council of Tourism) to encourage
niainland Spaniards to visit the Canary
Islands? Revealing his critical, highly
skeptical attitude to all such marketing
phenomena, Brito created two sculptures:
La isla de nunca jamás and
Independence Day. Rather than adopting
the usual hypocritical attitude of respect
for such "traditional" things, the artist
questions many of these symbols, and
deconstructs the heavenly visión of this
earthly banana paradise. Independence
Day is a huge banana consisting of many
smaller inflatable bananas, like those
which tourists take home from the
Canary Islands as souvenirs. On the one
hand, bananas are the islands' most
common fruit, and the root of various
expressions coined to describe an easy-going
approach to Ufe. Whereas elsewhere
in Spain a person who has their head in
the clouds is said to be atontado, in the
Canary Islands he is aplatanao [literally
"banana-ed"]. The Canary Island
surrealist poet Pedro García Cabrera
tackled this subject in 1930, saying that
"this aplatanamiento [state of being
banana-ed] is the most hazardous, most
disastrous common state which a people
could possibly invent, in which to do
absolutely nothing. It is an excuse for all
kinds of laziness. It shirks all sense of
responsibility. People hide behind it to
elude all accusation of passivity. The
energy of the people is buried beneath
it". On the other hand, Brito has also
reinterpreted Andy Warhol's famous
painting of a banana (chosen, among
other things, for its phallic connotations),
ridiculing the typically provincial attitude
of those who seek to find common ground
between fashionable modernity and local
customs and images. Recently, the
powers-that-be have backed the
recuperation of a whole range of customs
and traditions which had fallen into
disuse, and are now upheid as being
essentially "ours". Sergio Brito
exasperates us with this sculpture by
creating one huge banana out of the
imprisonment of countless other bananas;
he makes the greatest banana of all, the
super-banana, the hero of bananas, the
star of all fruits, the symbol of
aplatanamiento and of a whole trend in
banana-nationalist politics and, to top it
all, it is also modem because Andy
Warhol worshipped it.
Contemporary art is characterized by
the fact that it lacks a single way of
interpreting life and the world around us;
it is more about personal experiences,
incoherent trajectories and a lack of
ideological conviction, which makes for a
weak philosophy in comparison with the
great dogmas besetting tum-of-the-century
artists. In most of the pieces in
this series, Sergio Brito reflects on recent
developments in the art world; unable to
rid itself of models from the past,
contemporary art appears to have no way
forward other than reinterpreting them.
Brito uses these circumstances to créate
art with considerable visual and material
presence. Without prejudice, he inhabits
the different artistic languages of the last
40 years; at the same time, he has a great
ability to give his work a very personal
touch, which is not an easy achievement
when coherence is generally not a starting
point but a space of reference. Brito
manipulates the imagery of Pop art and
crosses the borderlands of Conceptual
and even Minimal art; he becomes the
prototype múltiple trajectory artist, while
maintaining the personal style that makes
him easily recognizable regardless of the
terrain he treads. In his piece ^-Pero Roy,
esto es arte?, a giant illuminated
sandwich wonders (as in Roy
Lichtenstein's vignettes) about the
direction which art has taken in the post-modern
era, with more than a touch of
humor. Years age Vattimo commented on
the way that increasing aesthetics in
everyday life have reduced the realm of
art. This crisis of valúes has become
widespread, and thinkers such as
Baudrillard assure us that today the only
magie in art is that of its disappearance,
in a gradual process of erosión produced
by the countless plays of references.
Within this context, innovation becomes
increasingly difficult and some artists
therefore believe that the only remaining
option is to employ de-contextualized
references from the past.
One of Brito's most disconcerting
pieces is Europín, evocative of Jasper
Johns's American flag, in which a flag
made of inflatable superman doUs blows
as testimony to an era which is in danger
of extinction. Superman, the great hero of
masculine valúes, he who safeguards
Western achievements and excellence,
now has no better use than as a child's
plaything, to while away the hours. This
flag of fair, strong and honest men who
never lie, defenders of humanity who
fight for the weak and lost causes, also
personifies the supranational state,
modelled on the USA, which Europeans
are trying to créate in the oíd continent.
The hero of American comics is losing his
footing at a time when feminism has
questioned the role of men and women in
society. Europín is a sort of burlesque
caricature consisting of ridiculous
supermen who would deflate at the prick
of a pin; superheroes made of poUutant,
non-biodegradable plástic, pathetic in
their attempt to represent the idealized
male role.

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11' Serjíio Brilü were lo disappcar this verv
urienioon. it woiild Ix- (jiiilc unfoi'pixahle
siíii-f it wouid letive us iii inid-seiitence,
iiiIeiTu]iIiiig a conversation which began
bark ¡ii llio earlv 90 .s wlien he took parí
in aii cxliihilioii al llic (laja (Canarias
Gallerv in La Laguna (Tencrii'e). A( this
groiip show. 1 was í'asciiiated hv one of
his scidpttn'Ps: it consisted of Iwo largo,
differently sized stars, oiic whito and the
oThor rod. totirhing al the tip of one of
their poiiUs in an act of iiiipossible
eqiiihbritim. To comiler thp sobrietv of
these two elonieiits. the artisi had added
a small lurrv objecl lo liu- finisiied piece,
atlaching it to one of llie stars. Tfiis
round, niclal-gri'v fin-rv objeet, whose
hairv body slood out againsl llie puré
forms of the stars, gave us a chíe that
ihere was soinething funnv going on.
Soiiietliing which tirged us to plav the
gaine, lo li'ead his ground and crack the
cede of an atypical artist who is definitely
not resigned to .Vhniniaiisni's usual piirc
sobriety or (he facile decorative kitsch
which has degenerated from Pop art.
Getting to kiiow Sergio Brito s work.
stepping intü sucli a personal and, lo a
certain extenl. hcrniciic worid of
crealivitv, is ralher like l)u\ing a one-way
ticket lo Nci'ligo. lie lakes al! previous
approaches to siich extremes that tliey
can come across as straiige or e\en
sliocking. Brito's veheinence carries us to
the liinits of exaggeratioii: he reveáis the
niosl excessive, volupluous side of aiiv
chosen thenie. I can liai'dK ri'inemher ihe
rest of the exhihits al the (willerx. Iiiu I
certainlv recall ni\- desire lo furlhei-explore
ihe personal discoui'se of lliis
ai'lisi who was clearlv' an exjjert in ihe
laws of sediiction and, with no intention
of the kind. liad maiiaged lo draw m\
allenlion lo his ci'ealioiis. We niel several
Vears later, and were ablc lo continué
that dialectic in which the artist always
has the first word.
For some time riow, art has been
watching the worId, scrutinizing the field
of both piiblic and prívate life, reílecting
on the experiences of contemporary
existence. We live in a society whicli is
lacking in anv great coiivictioiis, but
which is aware that progress is no longer
an tíiitirelv positive forcé; we pav a liigh
lárice for it, and it would be all too easy
to destrov oiir en\ iiduinent coinpletelv.
Therefore, as a group, we are verv
\ ulnerable to and continuallv affected by
the mass inedia's hicessant attempts to
aiin its strategies dii-eclK al oiir
subconscions. Through adverlising, the
inedia tries to make us want a hüsl of
consumer goods. therebv turning us inlo
i'egular biivers of all kinds of producís
which periodically flood tíie markel. With
cüiisideralile visual impact, fluorescent
signs, biliboards. televisión coimnercials
and wiiidow displa\s al large deparlnieiU
stores all displav the goods we want to
buv.- ihe embodinieiU of progress and the
lifestvie lo which niosI peo|)le aspire. The
art worId does not escape llie infliience ol
lilis realitv, or the codes, concepts and
categories established in our
coniinunication svstems. The wavs we
inleract with the world arouiid us are
perfectiv controlled by the mass media;
with tlieir vasl infrastructure. thev
conlinuallv carrv oin markel researcli in
order lo ascertain the aspirations, desires
and even the niosI liidden dreains of each
and everv one of us.
Within this complex context, and fiillv
aware of the trivialization of art inherent
in all niass-inedia societies, Sergio Brito
inverts the language of advertising and
combines it with his own discourse. He
competes with the media b\ exaggerating
their messages and pusfiing ihein lo
extremes; in so doing, he reveáis the
permanent sediiction to which Guy
Debord refers in his book "The Societv of
Spectacle". Sergio lirilo says: "Mv work
is influenced bv this 'show-biz' language
and, although I ani againsl the rhetoric of
the established order, 1 do use its syntax".
He often emplovs allegorical references to
reflect the saturation of imagerv both in
the art world and in everydav life, and
the wa\' consumers are constanllv force-fed
bv llie increasinglv hi-lech mass
inedia, which llave indeed beconie llie
'spectacle' envisaged by the Silualionists.
bi the earlv 90's, Brito made a collection
of pieces grouped under the heading
Adorno y lacio. This series is based on
the einptiness of our societv, as defined
bv thinkers such as LJpovetskv and
Baiidrillard. and eniploys decoration and
fantasv as the niain workiiig malerials.
Artificial light is also incorporated inlo
nianv of the pieces. thus altering our
perception of the installation space. A
large red Hiihv lil u|) by a circle of lighls,
and a piece of fui'iiilure with a white
Ileorl sui'i'oimded bv llashiiig bulbs, are
bolli references lo a societv in which ihe
^A7^-
(iiiiiiiprcseiicp of ostenlatioiis. wrap-arouiid
images is considered the iiorm. A
H\stcrn wliirli ¡s ¡iirapablo of changiiig
llic roiirsc (iC ('coiioiiiic pioduclion in an
increasiiígh aggre.ssixe inarkel. and solls
¡is pr'ddiicts iiol (III llir liasis (if i|iialitv or
ii.sefulne.ss liiil bccaii.se (iT llicir visual
iinpacl. Tile laws iil'scdiiclion liave lorig
since plavcd a iiiajor role, and countless
professiíjiials ai'c eiiiplovfíd lo inake us
wanl all llic lliings whicli fashion dictatcs
as 'nuisl-lunes'. Sergio Brilo Icads us into
lilis ainhigiioiis worid of snperí'luily,
cnclianling liaiialilv. sickciiing
exuberance, chea|j glitter and tlic most
niisleading oslcnlalioireniploved b\' the
mass media to templ us. iVhich of liis
work inhabits the behind-the-sccnes ol
appearances, in the theatre of
represcntation and dcsire: in all tliat
wliicli is ap]iai'cnll\ ob\ ¡oiis, it seeks llic
com|ilex reaclions of exasperation witli
this obviotisness. and in ap|)arení
complexitv, the siniphcity of delighf in all
things coinplex.
Brito deligiils in revealing a socictv which
is increasingly accustomed to feehng
eheated: a societv tíial has no greatcf
objective iban mere appearances. where
llic piicc of goods rcficcis the liigh cost of
inaikcting and |)roinot¡oii. .And ncither
has the ail worId escaped this trend; it
has its verv own specialists to convince
potential biivers tliat their interest in
certain pieces of woik shows great tastc
and sensitivilv lo ciiltnre. Phese
sculptnres are imlikclv to match the three
piece suite or the wallpaper, with that
"discrect chami of the boiirgeoisie'; in
Brito s work, sublimity can be showy,
aiuJ the acquisition of one of his pieces
does not save the biiver.
Above all, Sergio Brilo loves lo provoke,
and with grcal boidncss he continuallv
challcnges devotees, inxslics and
moralisls. ihc anllicnlic and convinced.
Seriíio Brilo. Lu hia de Xitiica Jumas. 1*)^)7. Plástic, nietjil ÍIIMI lii^his.
defcndants and altackers. His work has
no better victim ihan ihose who belicve in
a redeeming art and no more appropriate
l'alc lliaii ihc hvpocrisv and arrogance of
a society ridcJIed wiUi vaniu. whi('h
shows not the slightest interest in
reflecting upon this 'spectacle', these
excesses to which it has accustomed us.
Brito's work retains an experimental
touch which enabics him to redefine the
spaces cUid domains of art. His
installation consistiiig of scxeral wreaths
placed on their side with space between
them, each attached to strings of flashing
colored hghts, reflects a "non-artistic '
reahty by recrcating an atmos|ihere
reminiscent of brighilv lit streets during
the holiday season, particiilarlv at
Christmas, wiien town (•oimciis and
businesses go wijd with fantasv atid
money so as to turn the streets into
spectaclcs of hght and color. Streets are
closelv linked to our concept of reality
and llave great presence in otir evervdav
livcs. riiis installation enabics sjx'ctators
lo |iarlic¡pate activelv bv ineans of a
inechanisni which records the iioisc they
iTiake wliilc inoving aroinid (he gallcrv
and their comments while viewing the
piece; these SOUIKIS ihcn ¡nlerfere with
the rhythm of the flashing lights. The
installation was designed to encourage
viewers to walk around it, to appreciate
lili' dilTercnl spalial rclations resiilling
Iroiii the e\'er-largcr ilhiminaled spirals,
w liicli cover more and inore l'loor sjiace
and reacli np towards the ceiling,
eiiveloping us hi their himinous presence.
The shape linking all llie wreaths is a
spiral; Brito recréales tlie transcenrlence
of this svnibol. which has formed part of
(lili mal cxpression since the beginning of
lime. In ihis piece, he reflects on the
siiperlicialils and hi.\iir\ which is
onmiprcsenl in oiir societv as a wliole,
and in the worId of cultiire and
contemporary art. This is iiol willioiil an
element of here-sv in a plací' siich as IIKÍ
(¡aiiarv Islands, wherc the spiral is
regardcd as a svnibol ol nalional identils.
161
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n
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Oii llie illimiiiiated coliimn, the iiuniber
of glasses coincides willi llic seven
(laiiaix Islaiíds. This cold. henivetic
sculplure is based on the idea oC tlie
Ganarles as a single, conipact block;
Sergio Brito casis an ironic glance at the
pride íell bv iiiain' (Janarv Islandcrs in
belonging to what thev perceive as one
great island made iip of the unión oí
seven. Rather than investigating tlie
mythology or native legends of die
Canarv Islands, Brito has chosen to look
at contemporarv socielv and tlie banaUty
of all displays of provincial pride among
the inhaiiilants of anv Unid, hi so doing,
he presents the paradoxical power of
images, which are entirely lacking ni
content but come across vvith great visual
forcé. Since 1995, much of Brito s work
has revolved around the place where he
lives and works; it iooks at bis cultural
identity, seeking a meaningful space
thioiigh which to talk about his place of
origin, and ironizing about the recent
regionalist phenomenon of returning to
o I ir roots.
In his series Síndrome de Feler Pan.
Brito continúes to studv the concepl of
"collective identity which is upheid bv
most nationalist and populist parties: one
of the most serious threats to democracv s
protection of tolerance and coexistence.
As parí of an ofteii iiivented folklore,
manv mvths and .svnibols of Iraditional
Canarv Island idenlitv are being
recuperated b\' |jeo]ile who believe thev
possess the absolute truth about a range
of subjects which affect us all. In his
|)iece Canarias naturaleza rálida. a
Mario Merz-stvle isloo consistiiiK of
numerons iiiílalablc smil('\ sunsliiucs.
Brito recréales the inightv sim which
attracts countless tourists to tiic (Janarv
Islands. The fine weather blessing the
islands all vear loiiiid inspires foreigners
lo flock to our beaches and lie aroiind in
the sun: it is also the greatest sotirce of
iiiconie foi' I hese hickv islands. Sergio
Brito is well aware that the brighlesl star
iii the solar s\stem is like a god which
evervone worships in order lo picxcnt the
economv collapsiiig, and lo niaiiilain llie
status (|U(). As a resiill. he has recrealed
this |)ro\()cali\(' artificial sun consisting
ol manv smaller suns which goes bevond
the limits of 'iJindence" and enlei's the
diHiciill lerrain of excess and ostentation
in order to show what is offered in a lew
small Atlantic islands off the north-west
coast of África.
Sci-fíio BrlU). Unlllhd. 1'W.5. Iiistallalidii. 4Ü0 .x -lOO .x 1.100 cni.
Bananas are another of the most
popular symbols of Canary Island
identity. Remember "Guanchito" the
giant banana, who toured Spain (in a
promotional canipaign run by the Canary
Islands Council of Tourism) to encourage
niainland Spaniards to visit the Canary
Islands? Revealing his critical, highly
skeptical attitude to all such marketing
phenomena, Brito created two sculptures:
La isla de nunca jamás and
Independence Day. Rather than adopting
the usual hypocritical attitude of respect
for such "traditional" things, the artist
questions many of these symbols, and
deconstructs the heavenly visión of this
earthly banana paradise. Independence
Day is a huge banana consisting of many
smaller inflatable bananas, like those
which tourists take home from the
Canary Islands as souvenirs. On the one
hand, bananas are the islands' most
common fruit, and the root of various
expressions coined to describe an easy-going
approach to Ufe. Whereas elsewhere
in Spain a person who has their head in
the clouds is said to be atontado, in the
Canary Islands he is aplatanao [literally
"banana-ed"]. The Canary Island
surrealist poet Pedro García Cabrera
tackled this subject in 1930, saying that
"this aplatanamiento [state of being
banana-ed] is the most hazardous, most
disastrous common state which a people
could possibly invent, in which to do
absolutely nothing. It is an excuse for all
kinds of laziness. It shirks all sense of
responsibility. People hide behind it to
elude all accusation of passivity. The
energy of the people is buried beneath
it". On the other hand, Brito has also
reinterpreted Andy Warhol's famous
painting of a banana (chosen, among
other things, for its phallic connotations),
ridiculing the typically provincial attitude
of those who seek to find common ground
between fashionable modernity and local
customs and images. Recently, the
powers-that-be have backed the
recuperation of a whole range of customs
and traditions which had fallen into
disuse, and are now upheid as being
essentially "ours". Sergio Brito
exasperates us with this sculpture by
creating one huge banana out of the
imprisonment of countless other bananas;
he makes the greatest banana of all, the
super-banana, the hero of bananas, the
star of all fruits, the symbol of
aplatanamiento and of a whole trend in
banana-nationalist politics and, to top it
all, it is also modem because Andy
Warhol worshipped it.
Contemporary art is characterized by
the fact that it lacks a single way of
interpreting life and the world around us;
it is more about personal experiences,
incoherent trajectories and a lack of
ideological conviction, which makes for a
weak philosophy in comparison with the
great dogmas besetting tum-of-the-century
artists. In most of the pieces in
this series, Sergio Brito reflects on recent
developments in the art world; unable to
rid itself of models from the past,
contemporary art appears to have no way
forward other than reinterpreting them.
Brito uses these circumstances to créate
art with considerable visual and material
presence. Without prejudice, he inhabits
the different artistic languages of the last
40 years; at the same time, he has a great
ability to give his work a very personal
touch, which is not an easy achievement
when coherence is generally not a starting
point but a space of reference. Brito
manipulates the imagery of Pop art and
crosses the borderlands of Conceptual
and even Minimal art; he becomes the
prototype múltiple trajectory artist, while
maintaining the personal style that makes
him easily recognizable regardless of the
terrain he treads. In his piece ^-Pero Roy,
esto es arte?, a giant illuminated
sandwich wonders (as in Roy
Lichtenstein's vignettes) about the
direction which art has taken in the post-modern
era, with more than a touch of
humor. Years age Vattimo commented on
the way that increasing aesthetics in
everyday life have reduced the realm of
art. This crisis of valúes has become
widespread, and thinkers such as
Baudrillard assure us that today the only
magie in art is that of its disappearance,
in a gradual process of erosión produced
by the countless plays of references.
Within this context, innovation becomes
increasingly difficult and some artists
therefore believe that the only remaining
option is to employ de-contextualized
references from the past.
One of Brito's most disconcerting
pieces is Europín, evocative of Jasper
Johns's American flag, in which a flag
made of inflatable superman doUs blows
as testimony to an era which is in danger
of extinction. Superman, the great hero of
masculine valúes, he who safeguards
Western achievements and excellence,
now has no better use than as a child's
plaything, to while away the hours. This
flag of fair, strong and honest men who
never lie, defenders of humanity who
fight for the weak and lost causes, also
personifies the supranational state,
modelled on the USA, which Europeans
are trying to créate in the oíd continent.
The hero of American comics is losing his
footing at a time when feminism has
questioned the role of men and women in
society. Europín is a sort of burlesque
caricature consisting of ridiculous
supermen who would deflate at the prick
of a pin; superheroes made of poUutant,
non-biodegradable plástic, pathetic in
their attempt to represent the idealized
male role.